


Mentor Most Beloved

by Anonymous



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Age Difference, Ants, Backstory, Dubious Consent, Flashbacks, Oral Sex, Unrequited Love, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:44:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6940282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Speculative fic on what-if Darren Cross had successfully subdued Scott and Hope, leaving him with all the time in the world to work out his issues with Hank Pym.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mentor Most Beloved

**Author's Note:**

> So I came out of Ant-man shipping this like mad. Please tell me I'm not the only one! Also the ants aren't really important but I tagged them in case it's someone's squick. Wouldn't recommend reading this if you're here for sex with ants!

It is just the two of them.

Hope is locked away, Scott Lang has been squashed flat, and the guards have been allowed to take their leave.

Darren draws a deep breath, walking a slow circle around the man he had once regarded above all else. His 'beloved mentor', Hank Pym.

Hank is physically unscathed, though he put up the most dreadful fuss until Darren promised -- on the name of his own dead father -- that nothing would happen to Hope. How could he harm her? The woman who had practically been a sister to him?

And now, with the fight drained from him, Hank is quietly seated. His eyes are watching Darren, but he doesn't move otherwise.

Out of the two of them, Darren estimates _he's_ the one hurting more. That right hook was really nothing to scoff at -- though, he suspects, Hank still pulled his punches, ever the sentimental old fool.

"Before we begin," he starts, perching himself on the right armrest and clasping a hand over his mentor's shoulder, "I just need to know: was it worth it?" And then, when Hank doesn't respond, he elaborates with: "This whole set-up, I mean. The heist, the suit, the deception... getting Hope involved and bringing someone else into your fold, would you consider it a worthwhile gamble?"

"Darren," Hank tries, turning to look at him, "This isn't who you really are. It's the particle talking."

"No," he shakes his head, reveling in how Hank was looking at him -- and only him. "I wanted this long before I ever knew of your powers."

And then he leans in, closing his eyes to really savor the kiss.

-

When Hank Pym stormed out of SHIELD headquarters in 1989, his mind was humming with rage. Stark was one thing, but Agent Carter as well? Did no one read his extensive report on the side effects of the Pym Particle, or his statement that the power was destined to do more good than harm? And they wouldn't even let him retire in peace, always calling him back to the lab or the HQ -- and the stupid fucking bureaucrats who sat in their ivory towers who dared use Janet's name in vain...

It's part anger and part particle that makes him lose control when some street urchin tries to steal his wallet. Rather than keeping on the defensive (and then alerting the authorities), Hank grabs the would-be thief by the collar, hoisting him -- kicking and flailing -- into the air. He's one throw away from tossing his catch against the wall when he comes to his senses and sees himself: Hank Pym, the Ant-Man, strangling a _boy_ in public.

"Oh god," he mutters, setting the youth down and covering his hand, "Oh god, I'm so sorry." He flips open his wallet and takes his cash out -- four twenties and a five -- "Here, I don't have much, but take it."

"No thanks," the boy says, pushing his hand back. He casts a dark look over Hank's shoulder and Hank looks back to see a pack of hoodlums scatter, "It wasn't for me, anyways." He bites his bottom lip and then spits out: "Sorry. Sorry about that."

"Why are you hanging out with boys like that?" Hank asks, "Didn't your parents teach you better?"

The boy drops his gaze further, swallowing. "They did," he admits, "But they're not here anymore."

Darren will later admit that his mother had died in childbirth and his father had been killed in combat in the Gulf Wars, leaving him drifting from one distant relation to the next until they eventually left him in an orphanage. At the moment, Pym feels a weight settle into his stomach, and he remembers the man Janet and Hope had thought him to be, a sad contrast to the man he had ended up becoming.

"Boy," he sighs, unsure of what to do with his sudden burst of compassion, "It's late and cold and I'm famished. What say we get a bite to eat?"

Darren does a double-take, looking him up and down. Hank climbs into his car and gestures at him.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

"I -- " he stammers out, looking back to the shadows, "I was told not to follow strangers back."

Hank sighs, fumbling through his wallet before showing off his SHIELD-issued badge which identified him as an employee of the Federal Government, "Well we can't have that, now can we?"

The boy's eyes widen; it's only later that Hank will learn his father had worked in a similar block. "You work for _Defense_?" is all he says now, before he climbs in on the other side.

"Yes, yes," Hank answers, declining to share his recent resignation, "So what's your name anyways, kid?"

"Darren," the boy answers, "Darren Cross."

-

"There's one problem I still can't solve," Darren says, rather conversationally, as he's checking the various ropes that are keeping Hank attached to the chair, "Why me? You certainly weren't in the market for a child, much less a protege. So then... why me?"

Hank is the one biting his bottom lip here, struggling a bit when Darren undoes his fly.

"Darren," he rasps, "Darren, you have to stop. This isn't right, this isn't you -- it was all my fault, how many times do I have to tell you?"

"No," Darren corrects, palming at Hank's still-covered crotch, "I know perfectly well what was and wasn't your fault and this isn't one of them." Pushing me away, abandoning me, and ultimately replacing me -- Darren refrains from adding -- those were your mistakes.

"But really," he starts again, painstakingly pulling the other man's pants and briefs to his ankles, "I'm still curious. Tell me, Dr. Pym, what exactly was it about me that led you to take me under your wing... at what was really the drop of a hat?"

Despite the lapse into formality, Hank is biting at his bottom lip again. Darren purses his lips before shrugging. It wasn't as if they were wanting for time.

-

Darren Cross cannot believe his luck when Dr. Hank Pym -- _the_ Hank Pym of Pym Technologies -- not only invites him to dinner and lets him sleep over, but asks for guardianship of him from the orphanage the day after hearing his story.

There were dozens of other orphans -- more pleasant to look at and quicker-witted to boot -- but some reason, Dr. Pym had chosen him.

When he's not being tutored or helping out, he scours the West Coast manor, hungry for more information about the scientist. He learns of Dr. Pym's wife (deceased) and daughter (sent to boarding school) and wonders, again, why a man so prone to doting -- if his treasure trove of books, toys, and clothing were any indication -- would send his own child away.

He first meets Hope Pym months after the transfer of guardianship papers have been signed. She is a sullen dark-haired dark-eyed girl who looks like a perfect split between her mother and father. In meeting Hope, Darren is made to remember what it was like, being the object of jealousy. Hope hates him unconditionally -- for sneaking into their house and monopolizing her father. Darren makes sure to act extra-nice to her then, and gives a littany of excuses to force father and daughter to spend time together.

By the end of the summer break, when Hope is made to return to boarding school, he's somehow ended up closest to her. The hatred she had aimed at him is redirected once more at Dr. Pym and though Darren tries -- multiple times -- to argue in her defence and allow her to stay in the manor, Dr. Pym refuses to listen and that is the end of that.

-

"I _loved_ you," Darren rasps, when Hank's come is splattered over his face. The man himself has squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear the memories their position conjures up.

"And you pushed me away."

-

Darren has been under the tutelage of Dr. Pym for five years and come to think of Pym Technologies as a second home when he discovers the reason for Hope's continued absence.

There is a locked room in the basement of the manor which Dr. Pym has been retreating into with increased frequency. Darren has asked, multiple times, but he's always been soundly shut off with the polite but firm 'don't pry'.

He thinks himself too clever. Either that, or he just wants to know _everything_ about his mentor. Either way, his heart is racing as he affixes his painstakingly-crafted false index finger and the air catches halfway down his throat when the authentication light flashes.

"Darren!" his mentor _roars_ , "Darren, what are you _doing_?!"

At fifteen years old and thinking himself ready to change the world, Darren Cross draws a blank when his beloved Dr. Pym yells at him. He could count the number of times the doctor had raised his voice, and he had never done so at Darren. And so he remains rooted to the spot, staring in wide-eyed horror, as Dr. Pym -- chained of his volition and by his own devices -- stayed in his seat.

"Dr. Pym," he says at last, "Doctor -- that -- what is that? Are you in pain?"

"Darren," the doctor's voice takes on a harsh edge now, "You must listen to me. Get out of here and lock the door. I will explain things to you later."

More than adolescent idiocy, it is (what would become) lifelong obsession that compells Darren to ignore the direct order. Rather than wanting to know more, he wants to know _everything_.

"I'm not scared," he bravely declares, "I owe my life to you, Dr. Pym, and if I can help in any -- "

"You wretched stupid boy -- " his mentor snarls, "Don't you see this is for your own good?! Now get out of here before I -- " he cuts himself off, baring his teeth before his whole face contorts with pain.

"Doctor," Darren steps closer then, "Where is it hurting, I can -- "

He may be a genius, but he's a fool all the same. The second he steps within range, Dr. Pym loses control. Darren is swept up in a sea of --

Of ants.

He screams and thrashes but the insects won't let him go. He can hear Dr. Pym laughing and crying, shaking and twisting and consumed with some other madness. At some point, the ants shuffle him closer, propping him up so Dr. Pym could grab a fistful of his hair. He still had hair, then. He's crying from the ants alone and realizing belatedly that this callous grasp is still the closest Dr. Pym has come to touching him since the near throttling.

The sight of his fear is once again enough to bring Hank to his senses. He wills the squadron of ants away, leaving Darren kneeled before him and, with willpower alone, forces the madness back enough to change the deathgrip into a loose hold.

"I'm glad," he bites out, stroking at the boy's head, "Glad that you were here."

-

"Do you even remember telling me that?" Darren demands, kneeling once more before his mentor. He leans against the other man's knees, propping his chin up with one hand, and plays with the closest thing of Hank's he can reach. In this case, his earlobe.

"Hmm?"

"Darren, as I've told you before -- what happened after was wrong. Very wrong. I wasn't in control of my mind then, the particle had poisoned me and I had a warped sense of everything and -- "

"I know," Darren answers, stretching forward to kiss him, "But if poison is the only way I'll have you, then so be it."

-

Dr. Pym never fully explained the extent of the particle poisoning, except to say that it affected his mind and it would be best if Darren, like Hope, were sent off to a boarding school for the indefinite future.

But Darren, unlike Hope, was not so important as to be fought tooth and nail. For Dr. Pym, his protege was his final lifeline to a normal life. For Darren, the crack in his mentor's complexion meant an opportunity to know the man even better.

He had been the one to initiate, with his whole body swarmed with ants -- on his knees and sucking voraciously at his mentor's cock. The disgust he had felt for the trained bugs had dulled over the months; humans really could learn to stomach anything. And here he was, blowing the man who had practically raised her for the past half of decade like a two bit whore and loving every second of it.

And then, when Dr. Pym actually rests a hand on his shoulder -- when he begins to thrust in Darren's mouth -- well, it's suddenly everything Darren's wanted and more.

-

"You had no idea what you wanted," Hank snaps, as Darren is recounting their first step over the edge.

"Are you still going on about that?" his protege asks, stroking lazily at the still-soft member.

"Darren, you need to focus your mind. Remember your meditation. Concentrate on the real picture -- "

"How about now?" Darren asks, curling his lips forward and treating Hank to a view of his cock, nestled between Darren's very willing mouth. He licks at the tip before kissing it, drinking in the older man's moan. "Do you still think I don't want this?"

-

When Dr. Pym is conditioned slash goaded slash convinced into taking him, Darren sees stars. His mentor is gentle, as gentle as he had been when he had been stroking Darren's hair, and Darren is overwhelmed with a need to please the other.

"I love you," he whispers with unabashed reverence, "Dr. Pym, you're like a _god_ to me."

He comes to the thought of his own private research efforts -- aimed towards finding a permanent cure for the poison -- paying off. And then he could help Dr. Pym further his technologies for the days to come.

Dr. Pym extricates himself slowly, trembling, and when Darren turns around to look at him, he sees the older man looking as horrified as he had when they first met. This time, though, he pushes himself up and pulls the doctor's hand away, pressing their lips together. He had hoped that his expression would have said it all.

-

"I have always wanted this," he whispers, spreading his thighs and lowering himself into -- onto -- Hank's lap.

"And I always will."

-

The morning after, Hank elevates him to Head of Research. Darren had thought it was a promise, when in reality, it was a goodbye.

-

"But now I am here, and so are you. And wouldn't you say, Dr. Pym, that I have many favors to return?"

-

-

-

fin.


End file.
